Cross My Heart
by storiesyeah
Summary: ONE SHOT. Trish thinks that Ally's recent obsession with crosswords has taken over her life and has kept her from going out and dating. However, to both of their surprise, this was not the case. At least, it wasn't for a cute blonde boy who just happened to be a gigantic popstar. Warning: secondhand embarassment.


**Slightly inspired by the movie All About Steve. But very slightly. Like, just the crossword part. Enjoy! **

* * *

"Ally, you've got to get yourself a date," Trish said, straight-faced, her eyes peeking out of a magazine.

Ally looked up. "What?" she asked, clueless. In front of her were at least a dozen of newspapers sprawled out all over her best friend's kitchen table. They were all flipped to the same page: the crossword puzzle.

"For heaven's sake, Ally, you spend your days fixated on these crosswords!" the Latina shouted. She set her magazine off to the side. "I thought this crossword phase would be over by now, but damn."

For over a month now, all Ally has done was work on crossword puzzles. She was collecting newspapers so she could put them on the table as she painted so it wouldn't stain anything. One newspaper just happened to be opened to the crossword puzzle page. Luckily for her, that day's crossword was music related. Needless to say, her interest in painting didn't take off but her interest in crosswords did. She found herself collecting papers from almost every daily newspaper in Miami.

Ally was taken aback by her best friend's comment. "It's not a phase, it's a way of life," she defended.

Tris gave her a hard stare. "The fact that you call it a way of life is so sad."

"I like crossword puzzles and they don't pester me into getting a boyfriend every two seconds!"

"You're twenty two years old. You shouldn't be doing crosswords until you're like eighty five!"

Ally rolls her eyes. "You aggravate me." I light goes off in her head. "Ooh! Aggravate! A nine letter word for annoy!"

Trish face palms herself and groans into her hards. "When was the last time you went on a date?" Her muffled voice asks.

Ally frowns at her friend. "You make it sound as if I've been single for most of my life. I was just going out with Elliot," Ally points out.

"You guys broke it off three months ago!"

"Yes! And I miss him oh so dearly." Ally said, sarcastically, as she sighs and rests the back of her had on her forehead for dramatic effect.

Elliot and Ally dated for a little over two months. It was a sweet relationship but a very dull one, if she may add. Most of their conversations were over text, and they knew nothing about each other. Neither of them were even willing to TRY to get to know the other because there was no point in getting to know someone you have no interest in whatsoever. That's what she gets for agreeing to go out with someone who asked her out to the movies on the first date. The fact that they lasted for even a week is beyond her.

"These crossword puzzles are the reason why your relationships don't work out. I swear the only time you had a real relationship was when you went on a date with Austin in eighth grade," Trish mentions.

Ally thinks back. She hasn't thought about Austin since, well, eighth grade. They were best friends; as close as two people could be. They met when they entered the same middle school. It was puppy love and everyone swore the two would end up marrying each other. They went on their first official date the summer of eighth grade. Then, he moved to California. The next time they saw him, he was already in a kid's TV show. That then lead to being a professional musician and selling sold out shows. She shook herself from her thoughts. "What do you mean? We broke up," she added.

"He moved," Trish says sing-song. "So, technically it doesn't count." She takes a sip from her mug and looks back at her magazine, flipping to the next page. Her eyes landed on a specific article, and she almost spat her drink out when she read the first sentence. "Ally! Look at this!" she exclaimed, showing her the article. It was a picture of Austin Moon, himself, wearing sunglasses and a beanie in an airport. By the way that he is ducking and doing his best not to look at the camera, it was pretty obvious that the picture was taken by paparazzi. In big letters, "Pop star, Austin Moon, Takes A Break From Hectic Life to Visit Hometown". Ally then reads a quote from him in the beginning of the paragraph. The words weren't as big but they were bolded, unlike the rest of the paragraph. It says: "I finished my album and right now, all I want is to take a break and remember where I came from."

Ally stares at the magazine and blinks. "What's the second longest running Broadway show?" she changes the subject, looking back at her crossword. "It starts with a C," she added.

"It's either Cats or Chicago," Trish answers. She then shakes herself and goes back to her point. "But that's besides the point. Ally, Austin is back for the entire summer. He's staying with his grandma at an unnamed condo building. My condo building could be _that_ condo building!"

Ally ignores what she says and just continues to fill out her puzzle. "It has to be Cats. It's four letters," she says, tapping her chin with a pen.

Trish rolls her eyes and claps her hands in front of Ally's face. "Al-ly!" she shouts, synchronized with her claps. "Did you not hear what I said? Your first love is back for the entire summer, trying to remember where he came from! Where he belongs! It won't be long till he realizes he belongs with you!"

Ally looks at her dryly. "You have been watching way too many Spanish Soap Operas," she deadpans, shaking her head slowly. She looks back down at her newspaper, hoping that she would just let go of the subject already. If she knew her friend, then she obviously wouldn't.

"Think about it! You guys could catch up, and he would ask you on a date, and it would be just like old times again," Trish says, nudging her.

"Okay, Trish," she says, sharply, clasping her hands together. "Austin and I haven't seen each other since before high school when he left to chase after his dreams of becoming a singer. We didn't even have a second date. I doubt he remembers me," she assures her. Though, talking about it made her think back to how he didn't say goodbye. This feeling suddenly rushes over her, and she started to feel as upset as she was back then.

"You were in love! Of course, he remembers you!" Trish exclaims, completely seeing past Ally's mask.

"For heavens sake, we were in eighth grade!" Ally bursts. "Like we knew what love was!" She runs a hand over her face. "It was one freaking date!"

"So then ask him to another one!"

Ally looks at her as if she was crazy. "Ha!" she snorts. "Okay, the next time I see him, I'll be sure to ask him out on a date," she says sarcastically.

Trish sits up straighter and folds her arms in front of her, with a look of satisfaction on her face. "That's all I ask."

Ally's smile falters. "You're crazy if you think I'm being serious."

"You may not be, but I am." The shorter girl pauses and points at her best friend. "Cross your heart and hope to die," she demands, seriously.

Ally snorts for the second time. She tries to read her to see if she was actually serious. Knowing that there was no way that she would actually run into him, she traces a cross over her chest, without tearing her eyes away from her. "...and hope to die..."

Trish nods in satisfaction. Ally picks up a pen to start working on a different puzzle. Right when she thinks she could have a moment of tranquility, Trish starts talking. "My cousin, Joshua, is single if that Austin thing doesn't work out."

"_Okay!_" Ally yells, slamming her hands on the table as she gets up. She starts picking up the newspapers and shoving them in her purse. "I will go home where I can finish these puzzles in peace."

"He's really cute and is columnist for the Miami Herald. He could convince the crossword maker to give you some cheat sheets!" Trish yells as Ally finishes gathering all the newspapers.

"Sounds tempting, but um, no!" Ally says, flat out, throwing her purse over her shoulder.

She starts to walk out of the apartment as quickly as she could. She was about to make it out the door when Trish yells,"Fine, but I won't be giving you any of my daily newspapers anymore!" And with that, Ally shut the door behind her.

Trish's apartment was the last one in the hallway of the 45th floor of the building. Right outside of it was a window with an spectacular view of Miami. She liked to look out of it every time she came over. The sun was setting, making the sky have a pink-purple color. Over all the tall buildings in the city, was the ocean, and though she wasn't a fan of going to the beach, it was pretty to look at. It's nice to have the best of both worlds.

Ally smiled one more time before turning around and making her way to the elevator. She walked in and was glad she was the only one there. After that lecture Trish gave to her about getting a boyfriend, she just wanted to enjoy thirty seconds of her life, undisturbed. It didn't help that the elevator music was an instrumental version of one of Austin Moon's songs. She only knew this because his songs were constantly playing on the radio. She let it go and clicked the button with a capital letter "L" on it to lead her to the lobby.

The second the doors closed, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. This was exactly what she needed: just thirty more seconds of alone time before she has to walk out into the lobby. Then after that, it's straight home to her less luxurious apartment.

That didn't last long, because next thing she knows the doors are opening and someone enters the elevator to see her practically sleeping. The normal person would jolt up and open their eyes right away before the other would notice. However, this was Ally Dawson, and someone like Ally Dawson would stay exactly as they were, too embarrassed to look at the other's reaction.

"Going down?" a voice said.

She stayed in that position for two more seconds, cursing the universe for putting her in a position where she had to socialize. She opened her eyes before seeing who the voice belonged to.

Ally blinked once she saw who it was. That voice belonged to a tall guy with a mop of blonde hair. Could it really be him? Austin Moon? _Austin freaking Moon?_ He flashed her a smile. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes vigorously to see he wasn't just a mirage. Ally opened her eyes, expecting him to not be there, but he was still there, greeting her with a look of confusion. One brow raised with his nose scrunched up. It was as if this has never happened to him before. It would've been easy to understand if he was just any other guy, but he wasn't; he was Austin Moon with the blonde hair and hazel eyes that she has heard endlessly about.

He didn't question her actions and just walked into the elevator. Suddenly, breathing was not a skill she could easily master anymore, for she was finding it harder and harder to do. She backed up until her back touched the wall.

He didn't seem to notice (or he did, but he was polite enough not to say anything about it).

"You've got to be kidding me," she said, breathlessly. She wasn't expecting to see him at all, but still out of all the places that they could have bumped into each other, the universe decides to put them in the same elevator.

His head swiftly turned to face her. "What was that?" he asked, with his finger on his ear, leaning towards her.

She opened and closed her mouth several times before saying,"Nothing." She could't even look at him, because she knew that if she did, she would just freeze.

He pursed his lips and nodded, turning away from her.

Ally's head was filled with so many thoughts, but one thing kept repeating in her head: to ask or not to ask?

Of course, she knew it was Austin, but maybe asking could start a conversation between the two of them. She didn't just want to talk to him because of what Trish said earlier. Then, she didn't give a shit, but now that he's actually next to her, it didn't seem as if it was a bad idea. Ally would never ask him out, though. Promises are promises but she can't even imagine being in a relationship with him again. They were together in eighth grade! And as everyone knows, that doesn't count.

Ally finally gathered up the courage to say something. This was probably the last time they were ever going to see each other. She figured she could just tell him that he looks familiar. She straightens herself and before she could say anything, he beats her to it.

"You look vaguely familiar," he says with a pointed look.

She opens her mouth to say something but the elevator dings. The doors open and an old man, grinning ear-to-ear walks in. It takes him a few more seconds than the average person to get in, but this was understandable. He faces the doors and for some reason, is still wearing that grin on his face.

Austin and Ally glance at each other multiple times in the next twenty seconds, not knowing if either of them should say something, or ignore each other. After two floors, the man gets out and walks slowly away.

After the doors close, she turns to him and finally says something. "Um, I don't know," she mumbles quietly. But she did know. She knew exactly how they knew each other.

He shifts from one foot to the other, tapping his chin with his index finger twice. He points at her and opens his mouth before closing is again. He opens his mouth once again. "Does your name happen to be Ally Dawson?" he asks, staring intently at her.

Her eyes widen and she stands there, immobile, unable to say anything. "Yes," she forces out in a small voice.

Austin lights up and throws his arms around her. "Whoa! No way!" He continues to hug her but she stays still, shocked by everything that was happening. He pulls away but is still gripping her arms. "Ally Dawson? It's been years!" The frightened expression on her face doesn't change. He finally let's go of her, the grin on his face growing even bigger. "It's Austin Moon! Do you still know me?" he asks.

She tried to avoid mentioning that they went to school together and, you know, dated. She settled with, "Yeah. That's one of your songs playing right now." She said it rather uncomfortably, while pointing towards the elevator speakers.

"We went to school together!" he pointed out, though she already knew of this, unbeknownst to him.

"Yeah, that too."

The doors opened to reveal the lobby. She tries to get out but stops in her tracks as she sees him hold the close door button and the button of the highest floor at the same time. He does this so casually, it was almost unreasonable to ask him why he did it.

Austin's grin has yet to disappear. "Man, this is crazy. I still can't believe this!"

Ally points at the control panel. "Um, why'd you do that?" she asks, uncomfortably.

"It makes us go to the selected floor without stopping," he says nonchalantly.

Suddenly, the thought of him murdering her in the small elevator pops into her mind. "Why?" she asks slowly.

"So we could talk!"

There was a long pause after this. "Is this the part where you stuff me in a bag and stab me thirty-seven times?"

Austin just chuckles, not realizing how serious she was. "You haven't changed a bit," he laughs.

She tilts her head and her brows knit together. "Really? Because I remember me being a huge dork," she tries to joke to get rid of the awkwardness. Though, it was mostly her that was feeling awkward.

He thinks back for a moment to reminisce what they were like back then. "You were a cute dork, that's for sure," he mumbles under his breath but loud enough for her to hear. He didn't know where it came from. Just thinking about the good ole times made him feel really nostalgic. Now, if she could stop being awkward for two seconds, she could say the same.

Ally's jaw dropped and she quickly closed her mouth, hoping he didn't notice, but it was too late. He did and now he's just even more entertained by her.

"So, how are you?" he asks trying to start a conversation. By then, they've already reached the highest floor. The doors opened, and there were two women with strollers and three other people waiting to get in. It was obvious that not all of them could fit in the small space.

Austin did a quick wave. "That's alright. We'll get out and go on the other one," he assures them.

"We?" Ally asks confused. Without giving her an answer, he grabs her wrist and pulls her out of the elevator. He pulls her out so hard that she makes an _"oof!"_ sound. She starts to wonder if he was too strong or if she was just really weak.

His arm still gripped her wrist until they were standing in front of the closed doors of the second elevator. It was still on the second floor, but she didn't really want to complain. This gave them more time to talk. She wanted to catch up with him, even if it meant only talking to him for five minutes. She just wasn't a fan of his spontaneity.

"Has anyone ever told you that you come off too strong?" she asks him once he finally let go of her.

He let loose a chuckle. "You picked that up in less than five minutes?"

She laughs along with him. "Well, you're also forgetting those two years we knew each other in middle school," she points out, matter-of-factly.

"That's like a gigabyte of memory," Austin says, dryly. "But yes, I do remember those prepubescent days." He sighs dramatically, while looking up. He looks down at her again, as she giggles at how overly dramatic he can be. She's not the only one who hasn't changed.

It was cute.

_He was cute._

He stared at her a little longer than he's supposed to. He brought up a new conversation before he could let it go on any further. "What are you doing here anyways? Do you live here?"

"Um, no. Trish does. I live in a much less extravagant apartment complex a couple blocks away," she answers.

He nods, remembering who she was talking about. "Oh, I remember Trish," he says, as if he was a teacher and someone just mentioned the most misbehaved person in his class. Knowing Trish, the description wasn't so far off. "She was always pushing us to go on a date."

"And we finally did," Ally started. "With my dad as the chaperon!" They both burst into laughter, the sounds of their voices echoing through the long hallway.

Austin stops laughing for a moment to say, "We didn't notice for like a half an hour."

She snorts. "My mom had to drag him out of that arcade!" The elevator doors open. No one was inside, much to their delight. They didn't want another person to interrupt their conversation.

They stepped in and realized how much bigger this elevator was compared to the other one. "How _are_ your parents by the way?" he asks.

"Divorced."

His smile falters. Though, she seemed unfrazzled, he was completely shocked. "I'm sorry," he says sincerely. She just shrugs and he took this as a hint to change the subject. "How about you? What are you doing now?"

"I work at my dad's store," she answers.

"Wow. Still? You've been working there since I've met you!"

She raises her brows and makes a pop sound with her lips. "Yup, my life has officially hit rock bottom."

He breaths out heavily. "Yeah, me too. I was only number seven in People Magazine's '50 Sexiest Males Alive'. Darn that Ryan Gosling! _And_ all the members of One Direction!"

She cringes and face palms herself. "God, I hope you're kidding."

Austin nods his head. "Nope, I really am this shallow," he deadpans. "You should know, too. I spent most of our date looking at anything with a reflection."

Ally scoffs at his comment. "Please I looked like I haven't _looked_ at my reflection in days," she says. "My haircut was absolutely dreadful." She stops to cringe. "I hate you for making me remember it."

He eyes her for a moment. "Well, time did you well," he smirked. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. He noticed this and it only made his smirk grow bigger.

She stammered something incoherently. She had an inability to accept compliments. "I looked like I was a member of the musical 'Cats'," she says, changing the subject.

He chuckles for a moment. "That was actually the answer to today's Miami Herald crossword puzzle," he says casually.

She giggles and remembers Trish and her's conversation, earlier. She stops when she takes in what he actually says. "What did you just say?" she asks in a low voice.

Austin moves his head back, suddenly startled and confused. "I said that was the answer to a crossword puzzle," he answers slowly.

She rolls her eyes as if that was obvious. "I know that but how do _you_ know that?" she says inquisitively. She sounded out-and-out suspicious, as she pointed her index finger directly at him, staring at him with narrow eyes.

"I developed a bit of an obsession with crossword puzzles since I downloaded Celebrity Crossword on my phone," he responded.

Ally covered her mouth with her hand, and behind it she mouths an 'Oh my God' so he wouldn't see. "_I_ love crossword puzzles!"

He tilts his head and looked downright amused. "Seriously? Me too. When I'm doing one, it's like those weird facts that I know just suddenly come to use!"

Ally smirks. "I can't believe this!" she scoffs. "Guys like you can't like crossword puzzles!" she sputters out of nowhere.

He smirks again, hearing what she said. "Umm," he says, raising an eyebrow. "Guys like what?" he asks, crossing his arms. She just got a whole lot more amusing (as if it was possible). She shuts her eyes and winces at her comment.

_'Did I say that out loud?'_

She just gestured about, trying to come up with how she was gonna say this. 'Um, you're hot?' didn't seem very smooth. Good thing the elevator opened up, interrupting the two of them.

The two walked out of the elevator and in a few seconds were out of the lobby, itself. They awkwardly stood there, neither saying anything. Austin licked his lips and pointed his thumb to the right, motioning to where he was headed. Ally didn't reply and just did the same, except pointing to the other direction.

He turned to her flashing her with another one of his charming grins. "It was nice seeing you, Ally," he started. "Really."

She couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, you too," she says in a much smaller voice.

"I'll see you around, yeah?" He asks, ducking his head a little.

She smiles sincerely and nods. "And good luck with that whole remembering where you belong thing," she adds, realizing that he had no idea that she read about him on some magazine. He tilts his head and furrows his eyebrows. "I read it on a magazine. Don't ask."

He looks down and chuckles. He didn't realize how cheesy he sounded when he said that in the interview but it was overall true. He looks at her eyes and finds himself almost boring into them. "Something tells me that that's gonna be a lot easier than I thought."

Ally bites her lips trying to keep herself from smiling, or even squealing. He gave her a small toothless smile before turning around and walking away. She stares at him for a few more seconds before going her way. She smiles to herself thinking about the events of tonight. She even cringed a little too. It wasn't until then that she realized that she was walking home to another boring night. A wave of disappointment washes over her. Her smile fades. That was it. No exchange of phone numbers or email address. but for some reason it seemed pretty good enough to think about for the rest of the night. Maybe over think about too.

Suddenly, she hears footsteps behind her and they get louder and louder by the second. She swiftly turns around and meets Austin. If he took another step, then her face would've slammed right onto his chest. Ally looked at him up at him, lines forming on her forehead. "Austin?" She asked in confusion. She was secretly glad he was the one to go after her. With how disappointed she was feeling, she swears she would've done it if he had just waited a few more seconds.

"I- we never had that second date," he stammered, his cheeks getting pink. It was the first time she's seen him this nervous all night. It was sort of nice knowing that he ACTUALLY had the ability to be nervous. For a second there, she thought he was all poise and no nerves. It seemed unreal.

"Yeah. We didn't," she agreed.

"I just," he started, using his thumb to point behind him. "I saw this crossword book on a shelf outside that store. I thought about buying it and," he continues, breathless for no reason. He stops and takes a huge breath before smiling at her once again that night. "And I was wondering if you would want to get a cup of coffee and start it with me?"

* * *

**There you have it! I remember coming up with this plot in my head and I thought it was the best thing ever. I was so excited to write it. Then, when it actually came down to writing it, I just forgot everything. So yeah, it's not the best, but I tried and I hope you like it anyways. **

**Please review. They make my day. And if you do, I'll write more often. :)**

**Thank you for reading. **


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